Good books to read?

A nice intro into the history of JudeoChristianity is "Jerusalem" by Simon Sebag Montefiore, gives you a little insight into the Jewish side of things...vital to really understand the origins of Christianity.

Oh Slim, don't you know that Sam Harris is the most misrepresented man in history! ;P http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/09/sam-harriss-quantum-universe-or-how-to-say-one-thing-while-meaning-another/Thanks for the 'How to read Derrida' recommendation, I may check it out over Christmas when I'm off work... Depressedsoul, since different perspectives are good may I recommend David Bentley Hart's 'atheist delusions' as a counterpoint to the new atheist stuff. NT Wright has some good scholarly stuff from a more conservative/Christian perspective to Bart Ehrman if you'd be interested in that as well.

Yes azor you are right. I just wish there was a milder way I could find to say, whenever these threads appear, that the typical Dawkins, Pinker, Harris, Ehrman type offerings are as narrow as they are predictable. There is a world of ideas out there, but the current orthodoxy on this forum seems to be that extreme materialism, or however we should call it, is the only way to go.

Laika yes! I linked a video earlier that made the same point. Harris loves that type of trickery: oh I'd hate to kill millions of Muslims with nuclear bombs... but we might have to do it. Don't you dare say I advocated it! I said it was terrible. You're misrepresenting me!

You don't have to be an a**hole about it. When you are burned as many ex fill in the blank belivers have been by belief without evidence that is the natural place to go.

I require empirical evidence in order to believe. I believe everyone should do the same. To do otherwise in my opinion leads back to the same place we all started at. In a cult that claims to have revealed truth. What makes belief without evidence in any of the found or revealed truths any different than the other. Nothing. Just some man's opinion.

I for one will not waste another moment of my life in that again. I almost lost to much the first time and I'll be dammed if I do it again.

"Based on my experience of Buddhism, I can say that there is plenty of cause for criticism. There is hardly a Buddhist center in the United States that has not been implicated in some sort of abuse of power. In Asia, Buddhism has not been a major champion of women’s rights or other social reforms for the most part. Superstition is rampant. However, compared with other religions, the essence of the Buddhist teachings can support a scientific outlook and approach to knowledge" - Sam Harris